P.R. Laws tit. 12, § 1312

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 1312. Bonds—Issuance; contents of contract

(a) By authority of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that is hereby vested, the Authority may, from time to time, issue and sell its own bonds and keep them outstanding, for any of its corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, exercising the power granted in subsections (ll) and (mm) of § 1305 of this title, and to finance the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan.

(b) The bond issue may be authorized by resolution or resolutions of the Board, may be issued in series or groups, may bear a date or dates and expire within a term or terms which shall not exceed fifty (50) years from the respective dates of issue; they may accrue interest payable each semester, at a rate or rates that shall not exceed the maximum legal rate at that time; may be of such denomination or denominations, in the form of coupons or registered bonds; may hold registration or conversion privileges; may be issued in the forms to be payable by payment facilities in the place or places, subject to the retirement terms with or without premiums; may be declared as matured or may expire prior to the date of maturity; may provide for the substitution of mutilated, destroyed, stolen or lost bonds; may be authenticated in such manner as provided, once the conditions have been complied with, and may contain other terms and conditions stipulated by said resolution or resolutions. The bonds may be sold publicly or privately, at the price or prices the Authority may determine; Provided, however, That refunding bonds may be exchanged for outstanding bonds issued by the Authority according to the terms that the Board considers beneficial to the best interests of the Authority. Notwithstanding their form and context, and in the absence of an express statement on the bond that it is not assignable, all bonds issued by the Authority shall be negotiable and deemed to be so for all purposes, at all times.

(c) The bonds issued by the Authority which are duly certified by the officials of the Authority in the exercise of their functions on the date of their signing shall be held valid and shall be binding even though, prior to the delivery and payment of such bonds, any or all the officials of the Authority whose signatures or legal facsimile thereof that appear on the documents have ceased in their official functions in the Authority. The validity of the authorization and bond issue shall not depend or be affected in any way by any procedure related to the construction, acquisition, expansion, or improvement of the project for which the bonds have been issued, or by any contract entered in connection with such project. Any resolution authorizing the bond issue may provide that such bonds shall contain a clause to the effect that they are being issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and any bond containing the referred clause, authorized by a resolution of the Authority, shall be deemed conclusively valid and issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(d) Provisional or interim bonds, as well as receipts or certificates, may be issued until the final bonds are delivered in the manner and according to the provisions of the resolution or resolutions.

(e) Any resolution or resolutions authorizing any bond issue may include provisions that shall be part of the contract with the bondholders:

(1) Concerning the allocation of the present or future total gross or net income or revenues or any other funds of the Authority, including the pledge of all or any part thereof, to guarantee the payment of the principal and interest on the bonds, as provided in § 1305(p) of this title;

(2) in relation to the rates, fees, and other charges to be imposed, and to the appropriation, use, and disposition of revenues delivered from the collection of said rates, fees and other costs by the Authority;

(3) in relation to the setting aside of reserves for a sinking fund and their regulation and use;

(4) in relation to the limits of the Authority’s power to restrict and regulate the use of any solid waste facility or part thereof;

(5) in relation to the limitation of the purposes to which the product of the sale of any bond issue may be applied now or hereafter;

(6) in relation to the limitation of additional bond issues;

(7) in relation to the procedure to amend or set aside the terms of any resolution authorizing a bond issue, or any other trust deed or contract on behalf or in benefit of the bondholders in regard to the total amount of the bonds, whose holders may give their consent therefor, as well as the way in which such consent may be given;

(8) regarding the amount and type of insurance coverage that must be held on the Authority’s solid waste facilities, and the use and disposition of the indemnity recovered;

(9) regarding the obligation not to pledge either in whole or in part, the revenues, income, or funds of the Authority, with regard to existing rights, or those arising in the future;

(10) in relation to default and the terms and conditions by which any or all of the bonds may mature or be declared matured prior to the date of maturity; and in relation to the terms and conditions by which said statement and the consequences thereof may be waived;

(11) in relation to the rights, responsibilities, powers and duties to be exercised in case of the Authority’s violation of any of its commitments, conditions or obligations;

(12) in relation to vesting one or more trustees with the right to enforce any of the agreed stipulations for the surety, payment, or in connection with the bonds; in relation to the powers and and duties of each trustee and in relation with the terms and conditions by which the bondholders, or any proportion or percentage thereof, may demand the compliance of any contractual agreement entered into under this chapter, or the duties imposed by this chapter;

(13) in relation to the way to collect the rates, fees or other charges for the use of solid waste facilities provided by the Authority, and

(14) in relation to any other acts or things which in no way conflict with this chapter that may be necessary or convenient to secure the bonds or which would tend to make the bonds more negotiable.

(f) Neither the members of the Board, nor any other person issuing the bonds shall be held personally liable for the same.

(g) The Authority is hereby empowered to buy any of the outstanding bonds issued or in the possession of the Authority, at a price not exceeding the amount of the principal or the current redemption value premium thereof, in addition to the accrued interests, with any available funds allocated for that purpose.

History —June 23, 1978, No. 70, p. 222, § 13, renumbered as § 14 on Aug. 22, 1990, No. 59, p. 235, § 3; Jan. 20, 1995, No. 15, § 3.